NARAL: This Budget Reeks of Hypocrisy

Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, released the following statement on President Trump’s expected budget, which is poised to be the worst in modern history for women and families:

“Any administration’s budgets reflect its priorities, and Donald Trump’s budget makes clear his view that women and children are at the bottom of the barrel. By gutting the programs that help the most vulnerable women and families, this so-called pro-life administration would make life unbearable for those most in need.

“Donald Trump and Mike Pence have lobbed attack after attack on women’s healthcare since the early days of the campaign. This budget continues that deeply troubling pattern in unprecedented ways, especially by singling out Planned Parenthood, a trusted healthcare provider that’s essential to a woman’s ability to determine her own future. Bottom line: We’ve never seen a budget so detrimental to women’s lives.”

The budget expected to be released this morning by the Trump administration doubles down on President Trump’s cruel agenda to prevent women and families from accessing the resources they need to stay healthy and get ahead. The budget’s $3.6 trillion cuts decimate the programs that help the country’s most vulnerable. Specifically, this budget includes devastating cuts to programs that help the neediest Americans survive, including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and food-assistance programs. It is also prevents the nation’s largest family planning provider, Planned Parenthood, from being eligible for federal funding that allows it to provide cancer screenings, Zika virus prevention, and HIV/AIDS testing and prevention.

NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”